The wonder of it all, baby! Fifty years ago, on July 19, 1975, Paul McCartney and his band Wings topped the Billboard Hot 100 with the infectious single “Listen to What the Man Said.” The tune became McCartney’s fourth No. 1 hit on the chart since the 1970 breakup of The Beatles.
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“Listen to What the Man Said” was the lead single of Wings’ fourth studio effort, Venus and Mars. It was released in the U.S. on May 26, a day before the album.
The song knocked Captain and Tenille’s pop classic “Love Will Keep Us Together” from the top of the Hot 100. “Listen to What the Man Said” spent a week at No. 1 before being replaced by Van McCoy’s “The Hustle.” Venus and Mars topped the Billboard 200 that same week.
In September 1975, “Listen to What the Man Said” was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of more than 500,000 copies in the U.S.
About the Making of “Listen to What the Man Said”
The initial track was recorded during sessions for Venus and Mars in New Orleans. The band’s lineup at the time featured McCartney, wife Linda, multi-instrumentalist Denny Laine, guitarist Jimmy McCulloch; and drummer Joe English. English had joined the group after Geoff Britton quit Wings early on in the Venus and Mars sessions.
The song also featured guest guitar from Dave Mason and saxophone by respected jazz musician Tom Scott.
In the 1976 book Paul McCartney in His Own Words, by Paul Gambaccini, McCartney recalled that when he first began recording “Listen to What the Man Said,” he felt very positive about the tune, but as the sessions progressed, he thought it was lacking a musical element.
“We thought it would be great to have a very technical musician come in and do a great lyrical solo,” McCartney noted in the book.
Paul explained that someone at the session mentioned that Scott lived nearby, and they contacted the sax player and was at the studio within 30 minutes. McCartney said that Scott surprised everyone by recording a fabulous part on his first take.
“No one could believe it, so he went out and tried a few more, but they weren’t as good,” Paul shared. “He’d had all the feel on this early take, the first take. So we’d finished the session, we just sat around and chatted for a couple of hours. I think what he plays on that song is lovely.”
The track also features an audible kiss, heard after the lyric “soldier boy kisses girl.” The smooch was provided by Linda, who kissed the microphone while recording a backing vocal track.
A harp part, played by Gayle Levant, and strings were added to the song when the track finished during a March 1975 session in Los Angeles.
More About “Listen to What the Man Said”
At the beginning of “Listen to What the Man Said,” McCartney is heard speaking in a gruff voice. He says the phrase, “All right, OK… very good to see you down in New Orleans, man. Yeah, yeah. Reet, yeah, yeah…” “Reet” is jazz slang for good, proper, or excellent.
McCartney was doing an impression of Leo Nocentelli, the guitarist for the famous New Orleans band The Meters.
Over the years, “Listen to What the Man Said” has been covered by a variety of artists. Laine released his own solo version of the song on his 1996 McCartney tribute album Wings at the Speed of Denny Laine.
Other artists who recorded version of the tune include singer/songwriter Freedy Johnston, bluegrass great Ricky Skaggs, and ex-Wings guitarist Laurence Juber.
McCartney’s 2025 Tour Plans
McCartney recently announced plans for a 2025 North American leg of his ongoing Got Back Tour.
The outing currently features 19 shows, beginning September 29 with Sir Paul’s first-ever performance in Palm Desert, California, and wrapping up with a November 24-25 stand in Chicago.
The trek also will feature McCartney’s first performance in Albuquerque, New Mexico. That gig is scheduled for October 7. Check out his full list of shows at PaulMcCartney.com.
(© 2014 MPL Communications Ltd.)
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